BEST TIME OF YEAR

 Yes, it is the best time of year for Sports Lovers.  Football is cranking up and the MLB pennant races are getting serious.  That said,,,,

I'm excited about the Braves!.  They're winning the games that they ought to and the Pitching is in playoff form.  I think if they avoid a catastrophic injury, they could go pretty deep into the playoffs.  World   Series?  Maybe wishful thinking but certainly a good possibility.

College Football -  Ir's no secret I root for Georgia Tech.   GO JACKETS!   However, I am a huge SEC fan as well..    this weekend I think GT will win easy over a weak Presbyterian team.  I think UGA will struggle against Missouri and possibly lose unless they improve a LOT over last week's game against  a very weak  Buffalo team.

NFL-  the game against the Chiefs will be a good barometer for the season.  I think  the Falcons will  struggle but win.

 SELAH

BOWL PREDICTIONS

Following are my Bowl predictions.     I had a 81% accuracy rate through the regular season.   Bowls are a bit more tricky though.

• Orange -       Clemson over W. Va.         
• Gator-           Florida over  Ohio  St.
• Outback -          UGA over Mich. St.
• Sun  -                 Tech  over   Utah
• BCS  champ. -   Bama  over   LSU
• Chik fil A   -     Virginia over Auburn
• Capital One  -  Nebraska over S. Carolina
• Rose     -         Wisconsin  over Oregon
• Fiesta      -       Oklahoma St. over Stanford
• Sugar -            Michigan over Va. Tech

UGA vs LSU thoughts

First, let's be clear. I am no fan of UGA but am always unbiased in this forum and when predicting sports events. That said. Here goes. Allthough on any given gameday, most any SEC team can beat another, I firmly believe that LSU will win for a few reasons.

• they are both 6-0 against teams both played but LSU outscored those teams 230-44 and UGA outscored trhem by 159-72. significant difference.
• LSU played 6 ranked teams and was 6-0 outscoring these ranked teams 201-81. UGA played 4 ranked teams including the much maligned Ga. Tech and outscored these teams 139-104 going 2-2. significant difference.
• injuries & depth. LSU appears to have an advantage here as well.

How does UGA win you ask? They must protect Murray, They must rush for significantly more than the 86 yards they managed against a weak GT defense., kicking game must be on, win the turnovers ratio.
however it turns out, I expect an exciting game. Are you ready for some football? sorry Hank

UGA vs GT

I   started pulling for Tech over UGA as  aYoung  teenager for one main reason.  Everyone else was pulling for the Bulldogs and seemed as if it was strongly one-sided.  it was amplified by how "ugly" many UGA fans were towards the Jackets.  It was , as if, it were  a personal  HATRED for the Atlanta school and not just a competitor..   As  someone who always identified with the underdog, I was drawn towards Tech.  I have always enjoyed good   college football so  obviously I followed  SEC football which required keeping up with UGA.    This said.   My heart pulls for the Jackets.   My objective opinion says it is a toss-up.  GT has the superior offense and home field advantage.  Defense & Special Teams advantage belong to UGA.    The highewr the combined scoring, the better for Tech.  UGA cannot win a shooting match.  As usual, it's anyone's guess who will win but my loyalty remains with Paul Johnson's boys and his unorthodox offense.     GO    JACKETS!!!

VETERANS DAY SALUTE

In honor of Veterans day  on  11/11, I'd like to remind folks of the star athletes that interrupted their Sports career in order to serve in the  U.S. Military.565  MLB players 95% served in  WWII   29 were future hall of famers., 5   HOFers served in Korea. ,    638    NFL players did the same.  Following are just some of the well known names,   Joe Dimaggio, Ted Williams, Bob Feller, Yogi Berra, Warren Spahn, Jackie Robinson, Stan Musial. boxer Joe Louis. and many others.  I salute these great athletes and American Heroes for  putting country over self.  I wonder if today's stars would even consider doing it.    I just don't see  Pujos, Fielder, Lebron, Kobe, Matt Ryan doing this.  It's a different culture in the U.S. now and that's a shame.

THIS n THAT

   I've been busy with this little thing called a wedding the past few weeks and unable to post any sports related blogs so I will just mention a few odds and ends here.

• Braves had the worst ending ever in my 45 years of following them.  Their needs to be genuinely competitive next season  is a short list and I fully expect Frank Wren to make that happen.
• Falcons are off to a shaky start due primarily to abandoned their "bread &butter" and that's the run it down their throat style of offense.  They must return to that with an occasional vertical play downfield to  JJ.
• GT is way ahead where anyone thought they would be at this time and yet look to be just on the edge of a disastrous season unless they stop the "arm tackling" and improve their coverage on defense.  As  for    UGA.  They have won 5 in a row against the cellar teams of the SEC.    They, like Tech,  could end up with a good season or a disastrous one. yet.  They will need to stop the mistakes if they are to  have any chance.
•  NBA  -    who cares?    The   NBA lost me pretty much after the era of Magic, Bird,  MJ ended.  It just doesn't resemble basketball anymore.

Stay tuned later this week for my college FB picks and see if I can continue the unheard of  correct picking pct. of over 80% !

COLLEGE FB PICKS 9/29

  had another great week of picks last week, going 8-1 for a 31-6 record season to date.  This week is the toughest one to pick so far.   Below are the picks.

•  BAMA over  FLORIDA
• GTECH over NCST
• msST over UGA
• LSU over KY.
• S.CAR. over AUBURN
• BAYLOR over KANST.
• VA.TECH over CLEMSON
• OKL. over  BALLST.
• WISC.  over NEB.
• STANFORD over UCLA

  Ok, think you can do better?  i doubt it!  There are 4-5 here that could go either way.  it's a great weekend for some football.